Known in the prior art are stacks of contiguous filter elements in a container that are intended for individual use outside of the container (e.g., the coffee and tea filters sold by "BUNN" (registered trade mark)). Those filter elements have sufficient engagement with adjacent filter elements in the stack to normally maintain the integrity of the stack when it is handled. Difficulties arise when a user removes the stack of filter elements from the container and attempts to remove a single filter element from the stack. The outer edges of the filter elements are closely disposed, very flexible, and of somewhat fragile consistency so that it is difficult for the user to separate a single filter element from the other filter elements in the stack. A user will typically pick at the edge of the stack with his or her fingernails, and if that causes separation of filter elements in the stack it will often cause separation of two or three filter elements that then have to be separated from each other in a separate operation. This difficulty in separating a single filter element can be frustrating and can reflect negatively on use of the filter elements.